He started the year forecasting that WPP would see growth of 3% but cut this in March to 2% to reflect “tepid” economic growth and weak new business trends. The City expected growth in the second quarter of 0.5%, but WPP plummeted by 1.7% to £3.2bn. WPP painted a bleak picture of performance beyond the first half with net sales growth running down by 2.6% in July and net sales for the first seven months of the year down 0.8%. Sorrell said WPP was preparing for Brexit by increasing investment in operations in key European markets, adding that free movement of staff was imperative to maintaining UK growth. Those are four of our top 10 markets and we can’t afford to lose influence or position in those markets.”

Source: The Guardian August 23, 2017 06:50 UTC